~ If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat?

The Thanes of Hirot

Tenkar wants to know how we would put together a campaign for DCC. Here is my first stab. Actually, I was having a hard time putting this together, so I split my ideas into two campaigns.

The Thanes of Hirot

Since time immemorial, you and your people have toiled in the shadow of the cyclopean ruins. Of mysterious origins and the source of many superstition, they have always been considered a secret best left unknown by the folk of your hamlet.

But now something stirs beneath the crumbling blocks. Beastmen howl in the night and your fellow villagers are snatched from their beds. With no heroes to defend you, who will rise and stand against the encircling darkness? The secrets of Chaos are yours to unearth, but at what cost to sanity or soul?

A band of friends, family, and neighbors braved the Starless Sea. While many were lost, by lot or by fate a few arose to become true heroes. Tales of their deeds spread quickly and a plea from near Hirot is soon received.

High above the windswept moors and darksome woods, the village of Hirot is under siege. Each night, as the sun sinks beneath the western mountains and the candles burn low, a devil-beast stalks the village streets, unleashing its savage fury on the living. From warlord to pauper, crone to child, no one is safe.

Defeating the immortal hound will require more than mere blades or even spells. To slay the beast, the characters must delve into the mysteries of the land and its Savage Kings. Only then, armed with relics forged from a bloody past, can the most cunning and courageous of adventurers challenge the hound of Hirot!

Once defeated the heroes become Thanes of the new Jarl and awarded an Estate just outside of town. With a little effort the decrepit manor once again becomes the grand home fit for royalty. But the house has many secrets that obviously want told. Mysterious things happen in the cellar and a secret cache of aged silver is found in a secret hold.

The coins bare the image of a beautiful woman with an uncanny resemblance to one of the heroes! They soon find themselves cast upon a remote mountain facing the machinations of a power mad ancestor. Here strange hints of the ancient past propel the heroes to a final encounter with the very forces of the Abyss.

Reeling from this harrowing adventure the Thanes find themselves back at home. Plagued by strange and subtle events the heroes begin to realize that all is not well with their estate. But a larger menace descends on the darksome woods. A comet has appeared and a freakish blood-red light pierces the sky. Unnatural storms are gathering. Reports of a mysterious lake and tower where there was none begin to fill the taverns. The Thanes are sent to investigate.

From out of time, an archaic menace appears and seems to be drawing doom from the very heavens. The heroes brave the tower , thwart its master, and witness the return of an ancient explorer. From beyond the stars and through time immeasurable, what evils could lie in wait within the strange craft?

Back at home as the heroes debate this new threat, the house’s secret finally catches up with the present. Time once again unleashes an alien menace that may just be the undoing of the Thanes of Hirot.